Saturday, December 22, 2018

Actually, after he clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist in 2001, McGurk was appointed by George W. Bush to be special assistant to the president and senior director at the NSC for Iraq & Afghanistan. He served under both Bush and Obama. Like Bob Gates.

Jay Carney added,

Donald J. TrumpVerified account@realDonaldTrump

Brett McGurk, who I do not know, was appointed by President Obama in 2015. Was supposed to leave in February but he just resigned prior to leaving. Grandstander? The Fake News is making such a big deal about this nothing event!

20 replies550 retweets2,057 likes

Poor, Jay, he used to get to lie daily when he presided over press briefings.

Now he just gets to lie on Twitter.

No fan of Donald but the president is correct.

Barack appointed Brett to his current position in 2015. That's what Donald was Tweeting about.

If Jay wanted to be honest, he'd note that Brett was a neocon.

If he wanted to be honest, he'd note that Brett's failure as Barack's nominee to be the US Ambassador to Iraq was torpedoed by Democrats in the Senate. That's why Barack had to pull the nomination -- to save his ass from public humiliation.

Gonna talk about that little, Jay Carney?

Of course not, you're adult life is all about being the house slave for Barack Obama, lying for him, spinning for him.

Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts
"Ambassador to Swingtown." Nominee for US Ambassador to Iraq Brett
McGurk insists, "If confirmed as ambassador, both my assistant Hugh
Hefner and myself will address Iraq's most pressing problem. Blue balls." A woman parts the beads to ask, "Brett, baby, can we all fit on the water bed?" Isaiah archives his comics at The World Today Just Nuts.

This does matter.

And Democratic senators grasped that it did.

Barack wanted to make Brett the Ambassador. That would have made the US Embassy off limits to Iraqi women.

Democratic senators grasped that (led by one who chose not run for re-election).

You can't put horn dog Brett -- the man who bragged about Gina giving him "blue balls" -- in that position and not cut Iraqi women off from the embassy for fear of being called infidels or worse.

Barack pulled the nomination. He pouted a bit and created a post for Brett -- Hillary was also on Brett's side but she's always loved a man who can take advantage of women -- her husband Bill, Patrick Kennedy at the State Dept, Anthony Weiner, Burns Strider, Harvey Weinstein, Thomas Alfred Taylor, Jeffrey Epstein, Little Philly Reines . . .

Brett did nothing in the post but stir up more trouble.

Sunnis don't like him, never have. Kurds can't stand him, never could. And outside of State of Law, no, Shi'ite politicians cared for him.

In fact, some Shi'ites actively spoke against him when Barack tried to make him the Ambassador to Iraq.

Funny how the media ignores that -- or are they all like Jay Carney with their lips pressed against Barack's taint?

Brett did nothing to defeat ISIS. He gave a lot of speeches. He was supposed to bring this and that but failed just like he failed to put together any real treaties or agreements.

Brett favored the Iraq War, he's a War Hawk and a neocon.

Because Barack buddied up to him, all of that was supposed to no longer matter.

It matters.

It even mattered to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL that Gina Chon allowed Brett to vet her copy, to shape and edit it before she turned it in for publication. He was a US official determined to lie for the Bully Boy Bush administration about the Iraq War -- to pretend it was going well. She wanted his cock and apparently the only way she could get it was to do what he told her. So she did. And later, after they were married, when THE WALL STREET JOURNAL found out what she'd done as their employee, they fired her.

VETERANS: Senator Murray Applauds VA
Secretary’s Announcement That Will Keep All Veterans in Caregiver
Support Program While Reforms Made

Dec212018

Announcement
comes two days after Senator Murray asked VA Secretary Wilkie during a
Congressional hearing to allow veterans to stay in the program until
reforms are made to ensure decisions are being made accurately

Senator Murray’s request comes after NPR report of veterans being kicked out or downgraded from program arbitrarily

Senator
Murray: “I commend Secretary Wilkie for taking these concerns
seriously...But this is just the first step….I urge the Secretary to use
this time to get it right”

WATCH: Senator Murray’s exchange with VA Secretary Wilkie about the Caregiver Support Program eligibility

(Washington, D.C.) –U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) commended Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie for announcing today
that VA will temporarily suspend discharges and downgrades for veterans
enrolled in VA’s Caregiver Support Program. The program, which Senator
Murray helped implement in 2011 when she was Chairman of the Senate
Veterans’ Affairs Committee, supports those who provide care for
veterans injured as a result of their service to our country. Senator
Murray had expressed her deep concerns to Secretary Wilkie two days ago
during a Congressional hearing about reports of veterans who’d lost
eligibility in the program for arbitrary reasons. (Watch their exchange here.)

“I commend Secretary Wilkie for taking
these concerns seriously and putting forth this moratorium. But this is
just the first step. On behalf of veterans and their caregivers across
the country, I urge the Secretary to use this time to get it right. Our
military families, who sacrificed so much on our country’s behalf,
deserve nothing less,” said Senator Murray.

Senator Murray has consistently worked to hold
senior VA officials accountable for implementing the Caregivers program
in a way that works best for veterans and their caregivers, not the
least of which is creating clear, standardized eligibility requirements.
In June 2018, Senator Murray helped secure additional federal investments
in the program to ensure VA had the resources that VA leaders have long
said is necessary to make the program a success. Additionally, in May, Senator Murray’s proposal
to expand the program to make veterans of all eras eligible for the
program passed Congress and was signed into law as part of the VA
MISSION Act.

Though it’s easy to focus on the victories that remain just out of our reach and the challenges that seem too big to overcome, it’s just as important to reflect on our achievements. In the past year, we’ve seen numerous successes in the blocking of major oil pipelines and drilling operations on Native lands, exposed corrupt national and local leadership, and seen cities and countries commit to eliminating the use of fossil fuels. The Bioneers community—from Indigenous leaders, to politicians pushing forward progressive and just legislation, to those of you offering your time and support in the fight for justice and equality—is working toward victories like these year-round. In this week’s newsletter, Bioneers Co-Founders Nina Simons and Kenny Ausubel and Executive Director Joshua Fouts address some of the roadblocks we still face in moving toward a better future, and give us more than one reason to feel heartened as we continue fighting the good fight in 2019.

The Big Question: Waste Not

The natural world is incredibly good at cleaning up after itself. There are mushrooms feeding on the toxic radiation at Chernobyl, birds scavenging the remains of dead animals, and all manner of chemical-eating bacteria. But dangerous substances aren’t the focus of every natural cleanup crew: A dung beetle’s entire life revolves around lowly poop. These insects are incredibly sophisticated at gathering and transporting rather unconventional meals for their little beetle families. (Read Co-Founder Kenny Ausubel’s Bioneers 2018 keynote address for more on that.) While locating a feast isn’t usually too much of an issue—the beetles have excellent olfactory senses—getting it back to their families does require some navigation. Researchers have discovered that one variety of African dung beetle uses what for navigation to bring home the...bacon? (Read to the bottom of this email to find the answer.)

Wise Words

“Thirty years ago Ronald Reagan was president, the threat of an apocalyptic nuclear war seemed very real, a large swathe of the earth lived under the totalitarianism that got called Communism, which seemed like it might last centuries rather than another year… Anita Hill had yet to speak up and almost no one addressed sexual harassment … Same-sex marriage was virtually inconceivable to most people; the Lawrence vs. Texas ruling decriminalizing gay sex nationwide was fifteen years away; First peoples had been almost entirely erased in public discourse … and we got most of our energy from coal.”

Video to Watch: Roots and Branches

Bioneers Co-Founder Nina Simons, renowned for deeply intimate, poetic talks about how to find inner balance in the midst of our struggles to resist injustice and save the biosphere, explores here what trees can teach us about rootedness in community, embracing light and “branching out” effectively, even in the midst of challenging conditions. She describes how the long history of resilience of women and Indigenous and other oppressed peoples, including her Jewish ancestors, has helped her find perspective and fortitude, and how the extraordinarily dynamic women and youth-led movements that have been rising up these past few years are filling her with hope.

This Week on Bioneers Radio & Podcast

By around 2044, the U.S. will become a majority-minority nation. This seismic demographic shift has triggered a cultural earthquake, provoking a radical spike in hate crimes. In times of massive disruption and economic stress, what Carl Jung called the “shadow side of the psyche” comes into play: the pronounced psychological tendency in the collective psyche is to project these shadow qualities with unusual potency onto whomever people see as “the other.” But is there also a deeper story? Perhaps the question to ask is: Who benefits? In this half hour, we hear from Heather McGhee of Demos. She sees a direct connection between today’s extreme inequality and this peak moment of racial panic and white anxiety.

Help Bioneers Continue This Important Work

Exciting news! An anonymous donor has offered to match all donations to Bioneers, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000 before the end of the year! We're 25% there! Support Bioneers now with Venmo or Paypal by giving to donate@bioneers.org or click the button below:

Pep Talk: Kenny Ausubel

The Banana Republicans are pedal to the metal dragging us full-throttle into the abyss — right when time is of the essence to floor it in the opposite direction. The US republic is ostensibly based on the “consent of the governed.” I revoke my consent. How about you?

As Michelle Alexander wrote, “We are not the resistance. A new nation is being born. Trump is the one who’s fighting it. The regime is radically out of step with the ground truth of American culture and the arc of today’s diverse, interdependent world. They’re like the Japanese soldiers in World War II still fighting on an island who didn’t yet know the war was over. As Frederick Nietzche observed, “All great things must first wear terrifying and monstrous masks in order to inscribe themselves on the heart of humanity.”

As Naomi Klein sees it, “The reason the mask has fallen off, and we are now witnessing undisguised corporate rule is not because these corporations felt all-powerful: it’s because they were panicked. Our movements are starting to win. Rather than risk the possibility of further progress, after decades of privatizing the state in bits and pieces, they decided to just go for the government itself. It’s a corporate takeover.”

But make no mistake: Trump is just a babbling hood ornament on the Hummer of a plutocracy gone off-road. The 2008 financial crash outraged the public and stoked serious talk of nationalizing banks. It spawned the Occupy movement, the fight for $15, a surging fossil fuel divestment movement, and mass social movements all over the world committed to toppling political corruption, social injustices, and austerity schemes that further concentrate wealth and distribute poverty. The imperative now is to convert these movements into systemic change. Read more here.

Don’t Miss: Winter of Wellness

It can be difficult to know where to turn for trusted wellness resources—particularly when searching for practitioners who are experts in their fields and are able support you in achieving your individual wellness goals by addressing your unique needs. To learn how to take your health into your own hands, join Winter of Wellness, a FREE online event taking place from January 14-18. This unparalleled health, healing, and wellness series will feature talks from today’s top health experts. Bioneers co-founder Nina Simons will be one of more than a dozen featured speakers offering innovative solutions to your most pressing health concerns, from diet to mental clarity and focus. Interested in joining? Click here to RSVP now.

What We’re Tracking:

After the U.S. agencies recklessly violated their own rules regarding fracking on Native land, the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma mobilized to save their land and put a stop to the illegal activity. (Jessica A. Knoblauch via Earth Justice)

Xcel Energy has committed to a goal of 100% clean, carbon-free energy by 2050, making it the first major utilities company to do so in the U.S. (David Roberts via Vox)

Rootstock Radio recently hosted Arty Mangan, Director of Bioneers' Restorative Food Systems Program, to discuss his early career, the work he's done with Bioneers over the past two decades, and how he sees carbon farming as an effective way to mitigate climate change. (via Rootstock Radio)

The Big Question, Answered: Waste Not

In order to transport its ball of dung home, the African dung beetle Scarabaeus satyrus navigates through the help of the Milky Way. Researchers confirmed this by placing tiny hats over the beetle’s eyes so they were no longer able to see the stars and the distant galaxy. This caused the insects to wander aimlessly around the field, unsure of where to go—similar to what would happen when the sky is overcast. Learn more about the fascinating dung beetle at ThoughtCo.

Do you know people who might enjoy reading this? Please share it with them!

By David Swanson, Director, World BEYOND Warhttps://worldbeyondwar.org/u-s-military-out-of-syria/

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced his intention to remove all U.S. troops from Syria.

If that happens it will fulfill part of the demand that World BEYOND War has been making since Trump promised nine months ago to get “out” of Syria “like very soon.”

Removing troops from the ground — all of them, not just some — and ceasing base construction, if it happens, will be a start.

Even more important is ceasing to bomb from above.

In addition, alternative approaches need to be launched, including unarmed peaceworkers, a weapons ban for the region, a disarmament program, major actual humanitarian aid (and an end to sanctions that harm ordinary people), and diplomacy.

The fact that politicians and the parties they belong to generally do more harm than good is simply no reason not to encourage the good and discourage the bad.

Opposition to this withdrawal of troops is coming from a variety of disturbing quarters for a range of unconvincing reasons.

“If Trump does it, it’s wrong.” This is simply nonsense. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and Trump hasn’t done this yet — we need to raise a public demand for actual follow-through.

“If Putin approves it, it’s wrong.” This is a recipe for ongoing and escalating hostility between two governments sitting on huge supplies of nuclear weapons. Russia has been scaling back both its presence in Syria and its overall military spending. The United States has been dramatically increasing its military spending and its NATO presence on Russia’s border, while tearing up disarmament treaties, shipping weapons to Ukraine, abandoning a Russia-backed agreement with Iran, and opposing Russian energy deals. Doing something for once that Russia agrees with is a mark in favor of the troop withdrawal.

“The U.S. military should decide, not the President.” That’s a recipe for a military government lacking representative or democratic control, diametrically opposed to the values the U.S. government often claims to support. In fact, Congress should decide, as it may finally do on Yemen. And, if we’re going to be legal about this, war is actually a crime under the UN Charter (with limited exceptions not met by any current wars) and under the Kellogg-Briand Pact, meaning that neither Congress, nor the President, nor the military can legally choose to launch or continue a war.

“Trump is doing this to distract from something else or for various other bizarre reasons.”Nobody knows why Trump does anything. Trump probably doesn’t know why he does anything. Nobody knows what diplomatic and business deals, if any, are involved. What we know is that massive violence never gets us closer to a solution and cannot be justified.

“Trump is declaring victory while admitting there’s no victory; are you going to let him get away with that?” The incoherence of his remarks is available equally to all to observe. If he would end each war and declare victory, and even have a celebratory weapons-marketing parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, the lives spared would more than outweigh the harm.

“It will make matters worse for those on the ground in that part of Syria.” Things have been getting worse for years all over Syria, without that ever being understood as a reason to halt the militarism. Things may get worse during the process of ending the violence. But major steps can be taken to help avoid that. Such steps, again, include unarmed peaceworkers, a weapons ban for the region, a disarmament program, major actual humanitarian aid, and diplomacy. Sanctions now imposed on Syria generally target ordinary citizens much more than the government. They have that in common with the bombs, and they must be ended.

We demand that you actually follow through on getting the U.S. military out of Syria, including the skies above Syria. We insist that, for a small fraction of the cost of continuing the war making, the United States instead provide massive humanitarian aid and assistance. We insist that this be the immediate first step as recently promised, to be followed by the similar withdrawal of the U.S. military from Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya. Moreover, the United States must withdraw its hundreds of thousands of military personnel stationed on 800 to 1,000 bases in countries around the world.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.